YouTube videos can be blocked under certain circumstances. If you are having difficulties to view YouTube videos, you can try to unblock then using the methods described below.
Why are some YouTube videos blocked?
Sometimes, you may not be able to access a particular YouTube video and will instead be greeted by a message saying “The video is unavailable in your country”. There can be many reasons for this such as your location, copyright settings of the video, local laws in your country, or more.
Sometimes, companies and educational institutions also block videos in order to prevent employees or students from being distracted. Another reason might be censorship. Whatever the reason may be, this guide will teach you how to unblock a YouTube video and have access to restricted content.
1. Use a VPN
The simplest, safest, and fastest way is a VPN. It enables you to access blocked videos without any restriction.
It is secure and ensures high-speed connection. Your identity will also be protected. Even your internet service provider will not be able to track your online activities.
It is easy to use. Once you open your VPN app all you’ll need to do is to choose a country different than yours and press connect and then finally access YouTube.
What this does is creating a secure and encrypted connection to a server in the chosen country. This will act as an intermediary between you and YouTube. YouTube will then assume that you are in the chosen country and will grant you access to the restricted video.
Also, if YouTube is restricted at your work or school, using this method will hide the content of your internet packages on your computer, as such avoiding you getting caught by your network’s firewall and content filter.
According to VPNTeacher.com, this method is the best because it works in almost every country and ensures maximum safety and privacy.
2. Modify the URL
This method is not as easy as a VPN but it’s still something to consider if you don’t want to install a VPN on your computer. Some network admins can block the YouTube URL, in which case if you choose youtu.be instead of the classic website it will unblock YouTube on your network.
The problem with this is that it won’t unblock region restricted content. For that, you still need a VPN.
3. Use the Tor Browser
TOR is a secure internet browser known for masking your IP address. It is free to download, however, you will need administrative rights to install this tool in case you are on a work or school computer.
While using the TOR browser, the information will be routed through a network of servers. It is designed to prevent attackers, network admins, ISPs, and other organization from tracking your activities. They will not be able to trace your information.
This method is unfortunately not that fast when it comes to watching videos. It might not be ideal to unblock YouTube videos with this method due to the low speed and low bandwidth. You still can unblock and stream YouTube videos, but the process will be time-consuming and sluggish.
It will still get the job done but not as well as with a VPN.
4. Proxy server
A proxy server works almost exactly the same as a VPN but is not as secure and does not offer encryption. What it does is that it diverts your connection to a different server or computer (usually from a different country where the video you want to watch is not blocked), making it look like you are from a different country with a different IP.
But, as said, this does not have encryption meaning that the owner of that server and computer can potentially see everything you are doing online. This includes your social media passwords or even worse, your banking details.
So, while it does work almost the same as a VPN, it’s nowhere as secure. This is why we can only really recommend the VPN method.
Use a VPN – This is the best and safest way
We’ve described different ways to unblock a YouTube video in case it’s restricted for you. All five methods work and get the job done. However, only the VPN method is the one that we can actually recommend.
The VPN method is the one that actually works in almost every single situation and also offers high-speeds. It is also the safest of them all because it comes with full encryption, meaning that no one else other than you will be able to see what you do online while using a VPN.
All the other methods have one – or even multiple – huge disadvantage. They are either very slow (TOR browser) or are not secure at all (Proxy server). So, just use a VPN and you will always be fine.
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